Child Of Darkness
by zsofikam
Summary: AU:what if Palpatine/Darth Sidious met Darth Plagueis as a child?


Summary: A young Palpatine wrecks havoc when his parents are forced to take him to the

grocery store. Includes lots of cookies, candy, ice cream, chocolate, and marshmallows. He's

around 4 here.

Before he was the Emperor of the Galaxy, before he was its Supreme Chancellor, before he was

the Senator of Naboo, before he was even known as Darth Sidious, Sheev Palpatine was a bratty

child who did not want to accompany his parents to the grocery store. Within two years after his

birth, he had shown a surprising degree of aptitude in the Force. At first, this would come in the

form of a strange, unexplainable aura that would surround him for a few moments only to

disappear and then reappear randomly. As he got older, he figured out how to grab himself toys

and treats or manipulate his parents into taking him places. One day, Sheev's parents Coringa

and Phaedra needed to go to the grocery store and couldn't find a sitter after the previous one

quit. In fact, this sitter had been the fourth to quit in a month. It appeared as if they had no

choice but to take their chances with Sheev at the store.

Coringa found Sheev in the kitchen trying to coax the cookie jar off a high shelf. As much

as his son frustrated him at times, Coringa couldn't help but marvel at his use of the Force. If

Sheev was ever noticed by the Jedi Order, the already-illustrious family would know a whole new

kind of fortune. Spotting his father in the doorway, the boy turned around and asked "What?"

"Well," announced Coringa, "You get to go somewhere special today." Seeing Sheev's eyes

widen, Coringa continued "Your mother and I have to go to the store and…" "I like the fair!"

interrupted Sheev. "Well maybe we can go to the fair after we're done at the store," resumed

Coringa steadying the wobbling cookie jar and bringing down a few cookies for Sheev. After

baiting him with cookies, Coringa scooped up Sheev and brought him out to the private

luxury ship that the family owned. Phaedra and the driver were already aboard and Phaedra had

even put some crackers next to Sheev's booster seat, anything to keep him calm.

Once they arrived, Sheev cried out "Wait, this isn't the fair!" Seeing Phaedra's confused

expression, Coringa said "I'll explain later" before turning to Sheev and explaining "Remember

I said we would go to the fair after the store? We have to pick up a few things at the store first."

Satisfied with this answer, at least for the time being, Sheev followed his parents into the store.

No sooner were they just beyond the entrance than Sheev saw the biggest rack of candy he had

ever seen in his life. Using the Force ability that so fascinated him, he took one box or bag of

everything and snuck it into the cart while his parents weren't looking. Then, rushing to the sides

of his parents, he sat on the stone floor with legs outstretched and arms behind his back. "Wanna

see me be a Dug?" he asked trying to raise up his legs. "Sheev, stop stalling and get up!" Coringa

demanded. Getting back on his feet, Sheev continued to follow his parents, his thoughts

continuing to cycle back to his newfound powers and how he could use them to get whatever he

wanted, go wherever he wanted, and have all these things whenever he wanted.

Sheev was so lost in thought that he didn't notice his parents turn a corner, leaving him

alone. By the time Sheev noticed that his parents had disappeared, they were already in a

completely different aisle. Just then, a female Gungan entered from one of the other aisles,

pushing a shopping cart with a child surrounded by packages. The Gungan child was holding a

bag of marshmallows and his face was lined with goo all the way up to the bases of his eyestalks.

To Sheev, this was the perfect opportunity: a creature even smaller than himself whom he could

take advantage of especially easily. One might even say that it was like taking candy from a baby.

While the mother looked at shelves, Sheev coaxed the marshmallows from the little one and

rushed off just before the toddler could throw a fit.

Once out of sight of the Gungans, Sheev breathed a sigh of relief but then quickly

remembered that he had to find his parents. Scampering down the aisle holding his new prize,

he didn't find his parents but was eventually able to find their cart. "They must have just left to

find something," Sheev thought as he put the marshmallow bag into the cart. Stopping to catch

his breath, Sheev suddenly saw a bag of chocolate bars out of the corner of his eye. This too was

put in the cart, but no sooner did Sheev hide the chocolates than his parents suddenly appeared

from around the corner. "There you are!" scolded Coringa, "We've been looking all over for

you!" Spotting the extra goodies in the cart, Coringa continued "Not only did you run off, but

you put a bunch of things in the cart that we don't need and you have too much of already! Just

for that, you can forget about going to the fair!"

The sobbing Sheev was forced to ride in the shopping cart, something which he had not

done for months. As they were passing through the ice cream section, a tall (well over 2 meters)

figure wearing a burgundy robe with gold trim stepped out in front of the cart and held up a

hand, at which point the cart stopped so suddenly that Sheev had to grab onto it. The figure then

removed his hood to reveal a hairless elongate skull, pale green skin, amber eyes with vertical

pupils, and no visible nose. "Magister Damask," gasped Phaedra clapping a hand to her chest,

"Sorry if our son was disturbing you." "This is your son?" probed the stranger, gesturing to

Sheev. Sheev was rather startled at how deep his voice was, most of the Muuns he saw at his

father's work meetings had rather high voices due to the shape of their noses.

"Um…yes actually," answered Coringa, his voice betraying his nervousness, "This is

Sheev. Sheev, this is Magister Damask." Damask, who was secretly Dark Lord of the Sith Darth

Plagueis, was sensing the Force gathering around Sheev, said feigning ignorance "It seems he has

been giving you a bit of trouble. May I suggest getting a sitter the next time you go out so you

can have some peace." "We've tried," explained Phaedra, "But all our sitters keep quitting. I

guess Sheev is just a bit harder to manage." After taking a moment to take this all in, Plagueis

said "I don't have much experience with children, but perhaps I could get some. Maybe I could

get to know young Sheev." Both Coringa and Phaedra were understandably surprised at the

interest that Damask seemed to be taking in the boy. He would probably end up not wanting to

babysit after the first attempt anyway. But they had work to do and it was certainly convenient

that someone they knew had volunteered to watch Sheev so they didn't have to find a whole new

sitter. So Coringa said "Well, we could use someone on Saturday." "Then it is decided," said

Damask, lifting Sheev from the cart so as to get a better look at him, "I shall be there Saturday."

Turning to the child in his arms, Plagueis asked "I see you've gathered a lot of treats today. Have

you gotten any ice cream?" "No," said Sheev "And now I can't go to the fair cause I got all that

stuff." Nodding, Plagueis summoned a carton of ice cream and said with a hint of surprise

"Nonsense. You can still go to the fair." Now whispering so that Sheev's parents couldn't hear,

Plagueis continued "My child, I see you already have a strong grasp of the Force, how would you

like to learn more?" "Yes please" said Sheev eagerly, thinking of how many treats he could get if

he fully mastered the Force. Plagueis nodded a second time and said "Right then, I will begin

teaching you some things next time we meet. Also, from now on I want you tell address me as

Master." Setting both Sheev and the ice cream back in the cart, Plagueis watched as the family

left with their cart, overhearing Phaedra say "I guess we have no choice but to take him to the

fair now. Damask sure took a liking to him."

Once Coringa, Phaedra, and Sheev were out of earshot, Plagueis thought to himself

about Sheev's obvious Force abilities. True, the boy was much too young to begin official

training as a Sith, but he was extremely malleable. Plagueis would build up Sheev's trust only to

later reveal himself as the incarnation of the Dark Side. Once he achieved immortality, he would

do away with that ridiculous Rule of Two and would rule the galaxy.


End file.
